


The White Witch of Salem

by disneyandthefamilybusiness



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Hocus Pocus (1993)
Genre: Allison is a witch, Coda that turns into Canon Divergence, F/M, Witch!Allison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:42:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27057406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disneyandthefamilybusiness/pseuds/disneyandthefamilybusiness
Summary: Did you ever wonder why Allison knew so much about witches and the occult, why she was always itching to get her hands on the spellbook, why it glowed when she opened it? Maybe she was connected to the Sanderson sisters all along. And maybe that's the only thing that can save her friends.----A coda/canon divergence fic where Allison is related to the Sanderson sisters and has always dreamed of using magic.----"Allison ran her hands over the witch’s spellbook, the hardened human skin felt foreign to her fingertips. She had spent her entire childhood looking at this book behind glass walls at the museum, always longing for a peek inside. Now that it was finally in her hands, it was heavier than she had expected. "
Relationships: Max Dennison/Allison Watts
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

Allison woke up, enveloped in warmth. The covers on top of her were sort of ugly, covered in a printed fish pattern, and kind of musty smelling, but she didn’t mind. After that crazy Halloween, she was safe and warm here on the makeshift bed she and Max had made on the stairs. Her neck was a bit tense from the angle it was at, pressed up against Max’s body. She had fallen asleep against Max, she marveled—and she didn’t dislike that notion at all.

She noticed Max starting to stir and grinned at him.

“Hi,” he murmured, the grogginess of sleep deepening his voice.

“Hi,” she giggled. She wanted to stay like this, wrapped up in Max’s arms, but then she saw the clock.

“Oh my god, it’s five o’clock. My parents are gonna kill me,” she said standing up, leaving the warmth of the duvet. Her body prickled at the sudden change in temperature. She walked over to Max’s desk where her cardigan rested on his chair. “I should go,” she said, picking up the cardigan and wrapping it around her hands.

“I wish you could stay,” Max said.

Allison smiled and nodded before gazing over at Dani and Binx asleep on Max’s bed. The two looked so peaceful; it was hard to believe that just hours ago, they had all been running away from a zombie in a sewer. A sewer that Binx was apparently familiar with enough to navigate. Allison couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for Binx, hunting for mice in the shadows all those years, never speaking to anyone, and having to live with the guilt he must carry.

“Poor Binx,” she said, barely registering that she had said that out loud.

“Yeah, poor Binx,” Max echoed. “We owe him a lot. I wonder if there’s any way we can help him.”

“I mean, there is the book,” Allison said, walking back over to the staircase and sitting next to Max. She grabbed the book from where it was on the stairs and rested it in her lap. 

Allison ran her hands over the witch’s spellbook, the hardened human skin felt foreign to her fingertips. She had spent her entire childhood looking at this book behind glass walls at the museum, always longing for a peek inside. Now that it was finally in her hands, it was heavier than she had expected. She shuddered when her fingers grazed the skin around the closed inset eyeball, and it opened up to glare at her.

“Freaky,” Max said next to her on the stairs.

The solitary pupil rapidly glared at Max before closing its’ lid again. 

Allison nodded. “I’ve always wondered who was unlucky enough to be made into this book.”

“Some poor bastard I guess,” Max said. 

“Yeah,” Allison said, “I guess so.”

A silence fell between them as Allison contemplated opening the book. Binx had warned against it, but she knew that there had to be a reversal spell to turn him human again. But even if there was, there was still the question of whether or not Allison could get the spell to work. She would have to jump that hurdle if she got to it.

“So,” Max said, breaking the silence, “you know a lot about the Sanderson sisters because your mom ran the museum, right?”

“Yeah, the house has been in the family for years,” Allison said.

“In the family?” Max asked, furrowing his eyebrows together.

Allison nodded slowly at him, waiting for him to work things out.

“Please don’t tell me you’re actually related to the three women who have been trying to kill us all night.”

“Not closely, but yes,” Allison said gauging his reaction.

Max looked away from Allison and over to Dani and Binx asleep across the room. He didn’t look angry, but Allison knew that he wasn’t totally okay with this development. When he didn’t say anything, Allison continued.

“My family goes back for generations in Salem. We were some of the original settlers in the area. Times were different back then. Almost everyone was related to one another. My great, great, however many greats grandmother, was actually the Sanderson’s cousin. And once they were hanged, she got possession of their cottage.”

Allison waited for Max to say something, anything. Allison knew that if she had told Max earlier at school, before this crazy night, he wouldn’t have even cared. But now that they had been chased all over Salem by those witches, it must have felt like a bit of a betrayal.

Allison placed the book back on the step beside her. The weight of it too much to bear for the moment. 

“Hey,” Allison said, nudging him with her shoulder, getting him to look back at her, “promise not to hold it against me?” She smiled at him to try and ease the tension.

Max returned her gaze and smiled back at her. “I won’t hold it against you, Allison. You can’t really control who you’re related to. I mean, for the longest time, I didn’t want to be related to Dani. Sometimes, she’s a total gremlin,” Max said. “But why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“Well, I didn’t want to tell you in case the sisters overheard. I didn’t want those witches to know there was another potential magic user in their midst.” 

“You think that you can use magic?” Max asked.

“I don’t know, I mean, I’ve always been drawn to magic, ever since I was little. From all the books I’ve read on the occult, and trust me, I’ve read a lot; not everyone can use magic. If they could, everyone would use it all the time. To cook, to clean, to cheat on history tests,” Allison said, a playful note in her voice, which earned her an eye-roll from Max.

“Look, I would never use magic to cheat on a history test,” Max said, raising his hands up defensively. “But a calculus test—who knows?”

Allison laughed and continued, “I don’t really know if I would be able to cast a spell from this book. Real magical abilities are rare. Supposedly, magical aptitude is passed down through families, and since technically I am related to them, we are distant family. There is a chance that I have that ability within myself.”

“But the Sanderson’s sold their soul, Allison. Magic is evil,” Max said.

“No, Max, the Sanderson’s are evil, but magic doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of stories about good witches and Wiccans who used their powers for healing and strength. Magic is like any other tool, it’s up to the wielder to choose whether or not they use it for good or bad. And if I have it, I want to use it to help Binx and turn him human again.”

She looked over at the Bix, curled up and asleep in Dani’s arms. After all this fighting and loss, he deserved a happy ending, and Allison was determined to give it to him. 

“Do you trust me on this?” Allison asked, grabbing the book back from the step beside her and resting it on her knees.

“If I learned anything tonight, it’s that I can trust you, Allison. Just be careful,” Max said.

“I will,” Allison said. She carefully undid the latch on the book. The rusty metal hinge _creaked_ , a high tinny sound that pierced the evening air.

“Hold my hand?” Allison asked. She extended her left hand over to Max, and he grabbed it without hesitation. Allison felt her heartbeat slightly rise at the contact. They looked at each other and smiled. 

Allison turned her attention back to the book and carefully opened the front cover. The room was illuminated with a brilliant golden light coming from the book. Max scooted closer to her and moved the book over so now rested on both of their knees. A symbolic gesture that Allison wasn’t carrying this weight alone.

“Nothing too weird so far,” Allison said. 

“You mean besides the light, of course.”

“I did say nothing _too_ weird,” Allison said, “Besides, the witches are dead. What harm could this light do?”

“Fair enough,” Max said. 

Allison began to slowly flip through the pages, one by one. The paper was flimsy like it would crumble under too much pressure. She thumbed her way past common jinxes and hexes, spells for boils and burns, protections against fae; the simpler stuff, Allison supposed. 

She turned the page, noticing that it dealt with protections from witches. “Look at this,” she pointed out, “it says here ‘Only a circle of salt can protect thy victims from thy power.’

“If only we had known that a few hours ago,” Max joked, “it would’ve saved us a lot of time.”

“Well, now we know for next time,” Allison said, her voice deadpan. 

“I don’t know about you,” Max said, “but I’m not really expecting there to be a next time. I learned my lesson. I’m not lighting another candle until I get laid.”

“I guess you’re never lighting another candle then. And that’s a shame because I love candlelit dinners,” Allison said, looking over to wink at Max. “That would’ve been a great first date.” 

“Noted,” Max said.

Allison started to flip through the pages more quickly, determined to find the reversal spell for Binx.

“A levitation spell, that’s cool but not what we need,” she muttered. “A spell to speed up time, not quite. I hope the spell is still in here, and Winifred didn’t tear it out.” 

“It’ll be there,” Max assured, “it has to be.”

Allison turned the page, and there it was, just like Max had predicted. “Black cat transformation spell. Here it is,” she said. The words were scratched into the page with jerky red calligraphy. The spell was a lot shorter than Allison had expected. To think that it had only taken a few verses to strip Binx of his humanity. The thought made her shudder.

" _Mrrrwow_ ,” Binx hissed at them, jumping up and closing the spellbook with his paws. His yellow slit eyes narrowed into a glare.

“Look, Binx,” Allison said, “we were only trying to help you.”

“Don’t,” Binx said, swatting a paw at them, “nothing good can come from this book. You got it?”

“Binx, we just want to repay you for all the help you’ve given us tonight. Allison thinks she can turn you human again. Don’t you want that?” Max asked.

“Like I said, nothing good can come from magic. It took away my sister, my body, and my life. It’s not something you should mess with, Allison.”

“You don’t understand, Binx, not all magic has to be bad. Trust me. Let me help you. Please,” Allison pleaded.

Binx shook his head and waved his tail with agitation. “Allison, I may not be able to stop you from using magic, but I will not be the reason that you start. I refuse you using magic to turn me human. Do you understand?” 

A tense moment of silence passed between the three of them.

“Do you understand me, Allison?” Binx nearly snarled at her, his fangs flashing in the dimly illuminated room.

“I understand,” Allison said, “I should probably get going then.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Binx said, “make sure to leave the book.”

Allison sighed and placed the book on the stairs. She stood up, “I’m sorry to end the night like this,” she said to Binx, “thank you for all of your help.” 

“You’re welcome,” Binx said, the edge leaving his voice, “now get home safe.”

Allison nodded and turned to Max, “Walk me home?” she asked.

Max nodded. He stood up, grabbed his jacket, and led her out to the hallway. He knocked on his parent’s door, and when he received no answer, he peeked inside. 

“They’re still not home. That’s weird. They must be having a great time or something.”

Allison felt a pit in her stomach. She didn’t know why, but she knew that something was off. She could taste the trouble in the air like an old person could feel a storm coming in their bones. The air was almost metallic, like the taste of blood.

“Something isn’t right,” Allison said. “I would feel a lot safer walking home if we had some salt.”

“If you want some, then we’ll grab some. Come on,” Max said.

He led her down the stairs to their kitchen and opened the pantry. Allison pushed aside jars half-full of mystery spices, partially opened sleeves of saltines, and some mostly expired pouches of beef jerky. They had literally just moved here, and their pantry was already a mess on the inside. She’d hate to see it when it was fully stocked. When they didn’t find any salt on the bottom shelves, Max pulled a chair up to the pantry and hopped on top to reach the upper shelves.

Max pushed aside more mystery spices, a full twelve-pack of 7up, and two different boxes of Sugar in the Raw packets, and Allison couldn’t help but call him out.

“You guys just moved here, and the only edible things in your pantry that I’ve seen so far are 7up and sugar packets.”

“Yeah, the essentials,” Max said, continuing to push past more and more boxes and jars, with an occasional _clink_ echoing from the cabinet. He looked in the very back corner of the pantry, and there it was. 

“Salt,” he said, pulling the off-brand container out and dropping it to Allison.

The cylinder landed with a dull _thud_ in Allison’s hands. Max hopped down from the chair and settled next to Allison. He looked at her intently.

“What’s it say?”

“It says form a circle of salt to protect against zombies, witches, and former boyfriends,” Allison said, a teasing gleam in her eye.

“What’s it say about new boyfriends?” Max asked, his eyes darted to her lips.

Allison noticed him looking at her lips. She managed to catch his gaze for a brief moment before looking at his lips. He has really kissable lips, she thought. 

They both leaned forward and slowly closed the space between them. Allison’s lips tingled with anticipation. They had almost closed the distance between them when they heard a _clank_ —the sound of broken glass hitting a wooden floor—emanating from upstairs.

“Dani,” Max yelled before racing back upstairs with Allison in tow. They took the stairs two or three steps at a time, their footsteps thundering throughout the house. The metallic taste of blood returned to Allison’s mouth as they reached Max’s room. 

The room was quiet. It was too quiet after all the noise they had just made to get up there. Allison looked around, and she didn’t see Binx. She looked back over to the stairs. The book was missing too.

“Max, the book is gone,” she said, pointing to where she had left it. “I’m telling you; something is weird.”

Max nodded and walked over to his bed, where Dani was asleep under the covers. “Dani, wake up,” Max said, getting ready to pull off the covers. Allison’s eyes traced the shape of the body under the blanket and realized just a second too late that Dani wasn’t that tall.

“Trick or Treat!” Sarah said, lunging from Max’s bed. Max jumped backwards, towards his closet door, only to be greeted by Winifred and Mary. Winifred had her spellbook in her hands. The eyeball was beaming at being reunited with its’ master. Mary was next to her with her left arm wrapped around Dani; she was covering Dani’s mouth with her hand. In her other hand, she held a hissing and squirming burlap sack that must have been holding Binx.

Max screamed and tried to make his way back towards Allison. Winifred opened up her book, and a green light sprung out of it and knocked Max backwards into his drum set.

Allison did the only thing that she could think of. She opened the salt and started spinning the cylinder around in quick, erratic movements, trying to cast a circle big enough around the both of them to ward off the witches.

“Salt,” Winifred spat, “what a clever little white witch. I see you have been reading my book.” She stroked the cover, and the eyeball seemed to relish the touch. “But it is no matter. It will not save thy friends.” 

“White witch?” Allison asked, “You knew?”

“Well, of course, darling,” Winifred said, “I can sniff out a magic user in a heartbeat. Plus, I could see the family resemblance, can’t you?”

“The spitting image of cousin Elizabeth she is,” Mary said.

The three sisters cackled with laughter. 

“You won’t get away with this,” Allison said, her voice steely. 

“Oh, we most certainly will. You, my dear, are powerless against us without my book. Which by the way, I must thank you for reuniting me with it. Without a magic-user opening the book, I never would have found it so easily.”

Allison felt her cheeks flush red with embarrassment and anger. She had led them here. She had led them to Dani and Binx.

“The magic of the black flame candle is almost spent. Now come sisters,” Winifred said, “we must fly, dawn approaches.”

Winifred led her sisters up the stairs. Allison heard the muffled sounds of Dani crying out in Mary’s arms and Binx yowling away in the sack. The witches climbed to the top of the belfry and burst through the wall with their brooms. Planks and debris rained on Allison, and she was knocked down to the ground. All of the air felt like it was punched out of her when she hit the cold wooden floor. There she had the perfect view to watch as the witches and her friends drifted further and further away and into the night sky.

Allison struggled to her feet and rushed to Max’s side—throwing the remains of his drum set aside to reach him. He was just starting to come to. 

“Where’s Dani?” he mumbled.

“They got her and Binx too,” Allison said. “I’m so sorry, Max. I couldn’t stop them.”

“It’s okay, Allison. It’s not your fault.”

“Yes, it is,” Allison said, she could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She tried to stop them from falling but she couldn’t. They started to streak down her face. “They never would have found us if I hadn’t opened that book. Binx was right. Nothing good can come from it.”

“Hey, you didn’t know,” Max said, managing to sit up. He leaned forward and brushed away Allison’s tears. She smiled weakly at him and reached out to hold his hand. He gladly intertwined their fingers.

“It’s okay. You’re okay,” Max said. “We all thought that witches were dead. You can’t blame yourself for them finding us here. Right now, we need to focus on getting Dani and Binx back before anything happens to them.”

Allison nodded. “Okay,” she said. That’s when Allison noticed a faint song in the night’s breeze. Allison got up and helped Max to his feet. “Can you hear it?” she asked.

“Barely,” Max answered.

The two walked over to the hole in the belfry and saw all the kids of Salem—some still in their Halloween costumes—walking down the street as if being lured by a siren’s song.

“Don’t listen to it,” Max shouted down below to the children, “whatever you do guys, don’t listen to it."

“I don’t think they can hear you, Max. At least, not anymore.”

Max ignored her and called out again, “Up here, guys up here, please snap out of it.”

The taste of blood was back in Allison’s mouth, only this time it was blood, and bile, and everything noxious thing she could think of. The Sanderson’s didn’t just want Dani, they wanted every child in Salem. And if they succeeded, it would all be her fault. While Max continued to yell down below, Allison started to think over their whole interaction. They had definitely been in a hurry to get back to the cottage after they grabbed Dani. It was almost as if they were nearly out of time.

“Max, I’ve figured it out!” Allison said, grabbing him by his shoulders and shaking him.

“Figured what out?”

“Winifred said that the candle’s magic was almost gone and that dawn was approaching,” Allison said. “Don’t you see? The magic of the candle was only powerful enough to bring them back for one night. And unless they can steal the lives of these children, when the sun comes up, they’ll be dust.”

“Well, how much longer until the sun comes up?” Max asked.

Allison looked around and found Max’s alarm clock lying miraculously unscathed on the floor. She picked it up and saw that it read 5:26.

“At least another hour, maybe an hour and fifteen minutes,” she said.

“Great,” Max said, “that’s impossible. How are we supposed to make the sun come up faster? We need a miracle.”

“Or maybe,” Allison said, starting to formulate a plan, “we need magic.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allison has a plan on how to save Dani and Binx from the Sanderson sisters, but some things don't go according to plan.

If Allison had thought that the Dennison’s pantry had been a mess, she had not been prepared for the family’s 1991 Ford Explorer. The smell of stale fast food had smacked Allison in the face as soon as she had opened the passenger door. She tried to ignore the numerous food wrappers and spare fries that littered the floor as she hopped into the car.

Max got behind the wheel and started the car. “You can navigate us there, right?” Max asked, still unfamiliar with all the roads in Salem.

Allison nodded, that was the only thing she was sure she could still do right tonight.

Max started the car and pulled out onto the road. He started to carefully weave in and out of the children that were still flooding the streets.

Allison tightly gripped onto the container of salt that she had remembered to snatch before they had stormed out of the house. It was more than half empty from their earlier encounter with the sisters. Hopefully, there was still enough salt for a diversion. 

Max carefully swerved around another child. Allison scanned the road ahead. There were a lot of houses nearby which only added to the flood of children walking in the middle of the street, they needed to get to a backroad and quick.

“Turn left up ahead,” Allison said, “it’ll put us on a side street. It’s a bit longer of a drive, but there’ll be less children.”

Max nodded and turned down the side street. There were already noticeably fewer children out on the street and soon there was none in sight.

Allison was on edge, every second they were driving was another second they weren’t saving Dani and Binx. Allison couldn’t help but feel guilty even though Max had assured her that it wasn’t her fault. If she hadn’t opened the spellbook, the sisters wouldn’t have found them and been reunited with their soul-stealing spell. But she was going to make this right. Magic had gotten them into this mess, and magic was going to get them out of it.

“So, what exactly _is_ the plan?” Max asked, pulling Allison from her thoughts. 

“Well,” Allison said hesitantly, worried about what Max would think, “when I was flipping through the spellbook earlier, I stumbled across a spell that would speed up time.” She sighed; the idea sounded insane when she said it out loud. She looked over at Max to gauge his reaction, but he seemed determined to keep his eyes on the road.

“Like time travel?” Max asked, his voice skeptical as he swerved the car wide and fast around a curve.

In response to taking the curve so rapidly, Allison’s stomach threatened to leap from her body “Jesus Christ, be careful,” Allison exclaimed, “you need to slow down when taking curves.”

“Sorry,” Max said, “just trying to get us to the Sanderson’s cottage as quickly as possible.” 

“Yes, we need to get there quickly,” Allison said, “but we also need to get there _alive_ .” 

“Yeah, I know,” Max said, “I just—,” Max exhaled to gather his thoughts, “I just need to get to Dani. I can’t let anything happen to her.”

And if anything did, it would be my fault, Allison thought bitterly. If something did happen to Dani, Allison couldn’t see how Max would ever be able to forgive her, because she knew that she would never be able to forgive herself.

“So,” Max said, changing the subject, “you were talking about time travel?”

“It’s not time travel,” Allison said, “well not exactly; it just speeds up time.” 

“Right,” Max said skeptically, “and that’s different how?”

“Well, we measure time by the position of the sun in the sky, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, to speed up time, all you really need to do is move the position of the sun in the sky,” Allison said. “We won’t really be experiencing that passage of time though; the spell will only change the Earth’s time in terms of its’ relativity to the sun.” Allison wondered if she was making any sense. When a few seconds passed and Max didn’t respond, she added, “I guess it’s more of a time jumping spell really.”

“Allison, I trust you and all,” Max said, “but this spell sounds unnecessarily convoluted.”

“I can explain,” Alison said, “just let me think.” She fiddled with the metal flap on the salt container as she racked her brain trying to find an analogy. “So, you know how on a CD Walkman, you can either speed up a song, or just skip it?” 

“Yes,” Max said tentatively. 

“When you speed up a song, you can still listen to it, only it happens at double speed. But if you skip it, you don’t experience it at all,”

“Right,” Max said.

“The spell will be more like skipping a song, with the sun just moving into place as if it were already past dawn. And since we keep our time by the sun, the whole world will have to readjust to the sun’s new position in the sky, ergo speeding up time.” Allison looked over at Max again, his jaw was clenched. He looked as if he was still trying to sort out all the specifics in his head.

“So, let me get this straight,” Max said, “your plan is to cast a spell that will change the position of the sun and basically cause everyone around the world to have to change their clocks.”

“Yes,” Allison said.

“The very first spell you are ever going to cast, and you want to pull the sun, a _celestial object_ , through the sky to speed up time?”

“Well, when you put it that way it sounds absolutely insane,” Allison said.

“Insane, yes,” Max said, taking his eyes off of the road to glance at Allison, “but also absolutely brilliant.”

The two grinned at each other. Allison felt a stirring in her stomach, but this time it wasn’t from Max’s erratic driving, it was a hopefulness that maybe, just maybe, she and Max would get to be a part of something so much bigger than what they were right now. That after tonight was over, everyone safe and secure, they’d be able to go on that first date and see where that path would take them.

Max broke their eye contact to look back at the road, but a grin remained on both of their faces. Allison couldn’t help but wonder if he was thinking the same thing, about a chance at a future.

Allison turned away and looked back at the road. She saw the upcoming curve and braced herself for another round of whiplash. It seemed like Max has learned his lesson about speeding through curves, but now he overcorrected and gracelessly applied too much pressure on the breaks, causing the car to jolt forward. Allison felt the air get knocked out of her as her seat belt tightened across her chest.

“Max,” Allison said, “ease up on the brakes a bit. Don’t you know how to drive?”

“For your information,” Max said, “I haven’t had the chance to get my learner’s permit yet.”

Allison clicked her tongue and said, “Maybe I should have driven us.” 

“Well, next time we have to drive to save my sister and a 300-year-old cat from some witches I’ll be sure to ride shotgun,” Max said. 

“I’m going to hold you to that,” Allison said.

She watched as Max chuckled and moved some of his hair behind his ear. Allison decided that she liked the way it framed his face like that. She mused at what it would be like to run her fingers through Max’s hair. She wondered if it was as soft as it looked.

“So, where exactly do I fall into your plan?” Max asked.

“You’re gonna go into the cottage first,” Allison said, “and create a distraction with this,” she held up the salt. “Try and back the witches into a corner and trap them with a salt circle.”

“Makes sense,” he said. “That way they’ll be unable to hurt us.” 

“Exactly,” Allison said, “and while you do that, I’ll climb in through the side window, grab the spellbook, read the spell, and those witches will be dust.” 

“Do you think it’ll work?” Max asked.

“It has to,” Allison said, she didn’t want to think about what would happen if it didn’t. 

A silence fell between them as Max continued to speed down the winding backroads of Salem, with only the occasional instruction from Allison on where to turn.

When Max finally pulled the car up to the front of the Sanderson cottage, there was a bright green light emanating from inside the house.

“They must already be in the middle of their spell,” Max said.

Allison nodded. “You’re gonna need this,” she said, tossing the container of salt to Max, who caught it effortlessly. 

“Thanks,” he said. Allison could hear the uneasiness in his voice. She knew how he felt, the plan on the way here had seemed insane, but at the very least doable, but now facing the reality of a glowing cottage with three powerful witches inside, it was starting to seem a little insurmountable. 

“Good luck,” she said, leaning over the middle console of the car to give Max a quick kiss on the cheek. She didn’t know if she did it to reassure him or to reassure herself. But in the brief second that she was kissing his cheek, she registered that his skin was soft beneath her lips. She wished that they had time for something more. 

Allison pulled away quickly and felt her cheeks flush. She scanned Max’s face for his reaction and in the dim light and she swore that Max was blushing too.

“I’ll see you in there soon,” Max said, his voice slightly higher than normal.

Allison nodded. “See you soon,” she said. 

They got out of the car. Max made his way to the front door as Allison started to creep her way towards the side of the cottage. She stole one last glance at Max before she turned the corner. He flashed her a thumbs up before opening the door and disappearing inside. 

As Allison ducked around the side of the cottage and crouched down to hide, she heard bits and pieces of the muffled commotion going inside the cottage. She couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but she heard the cackles of the three women and the sound of Max’s voice. She slowly continued to make her way towards the window. She stepped lightly, careful to avoid any sticks or anything else that would give her away. She realized that the side window had luckily been left open which made her life a bit easier.

Allison carefully peeked over the windowsill and scanned the room. Unfortunately, things looked like they weren’t going according to plan. The three witches had their backs turned to Allison and were surrounding Max, backing him into a corner. The container of salt laid forgotten on the floor. The burlap sack that held Binx hung over the fireplace, with Binx squirming and mewling inside. Dani was tied to a chair in the middle of the room behind the Sanderson’s cauldron which was broiling with green fog.

Dani locked eyes with Allison, her eyes were wide with fear. Allison quickly motioned for her to stay silent. Dani nodded slightly. Allison pressed her palms together and made a motion with her hands like she was opening and closing a book. Dani seemed to get the idea and gestured with her head to a stand next to the cauldron, where Allison saw the spellbook resting.

She just needed to grab the book without the sisters noticing and them focusing on Max was as good of a diversion as she was going to get. Allison carefully hoisted herself up onto the windowsill and when the witches didn’t turn to her she took that as a good omen to keep going. She delicately lowered herself to the ground trying not to make a single sound in the process.

Her foot had barely touched the wooden floor of the cottage when Winifred turned over her shoulder to look at Allison. “How sweet, the little white witch came to rescue her friends,” Winifred cackled. “Sisters, grab her.”

Mary and Sarah turned towards her with looks of gleeful anticipation in their eyes.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Max said, using the fact that Winifred was looking back at Allison as a chance to quickly duck under her arms and run towards the spellbook. He pulled it off of the stand and heaved the book towards Allison. It went wide and landed nearby on the floor. 

Allison leaped towards the book and scooped it up in her arms before dashing over to the gift shop’s old checkout counter.

“You fool,” Winifred said, lunging towards Max, who now stood behind the cauldron, his hands positioned to tip it over.

“One more step and you can say goodbye to your potion,” Max said.

Mary and Sarah stood confused in the middle of the room, looking between Max and the cauldron and Allison and the book.

“What should we do?” Mary asked out of her crooked mouth. 

“Yeah, Winnie,” Sarah said, playing with her hair, “what should we do?”

“You fools take care of the girl, while I deal with this pest.”

“Yes, Winnie,” the two said in unison, turning their attention back to Allison.

Allison ducked down behind the checkout desk and frantically started turning the pages. She heard a heavy _thud_ and felt a shock in the floorboards as something heavy hit the floor of the cottage. Max must have tipped over the cauldron; he was buying her more time.

Desperate to find the spell she needed, Allison tore a page or two in the process. She felt as her heart pumping erratically in her chest, but the adrenaline running through her body steeled her with determination. She turned a page and finally landed on it, the spell to speed up time. 

Allison launched into the spell, her voice shaking from behind the counter as she started to read the first line, “Forces of light—”

“Sisters, do whatever it takes. Don’t let her finish that spell!” she heard Winifred howl.

“—heed my cry,” Allison continued the spell, her confidence growing with each word. She stood up, managing to catch a glimpse of Max untying Dani as Winifred desperately tried to salvage a bit of the potion in vain. Allison continued to read.

“Let you radiate upon the land.”

Allison felt a warmth emanating from her core. With each word of the spell, she felt her heartbeat grow steady and the warmth inside her continued to grow. It was as if her circulatory system was no longer pumping blood, but pure energy. And that energy was starting to build in her heart and circulate out to the rest of her body. Allison felt the magic radiating in veins. She felt raw and powerful and exhilarated. 

“Do it now, for the time is nigh,” Allison continued, her voice and her power growing steadier with each word.

She was vaguely aware of the Mary and Sarah trying to swarm her, their grotesque faces stretched into sneers and looks of disgust. But she couldn’t hear them, and they couldn’t touch her, her magic seemed to be forming some sort of barrier around her. 

“And with this, I reach out my hand,” Allison extended her right hand and felt the power start to pool there. She looked outside to the window and saw the first few hints of dawn. As she got to the last line of the spell, she imagined she was reaching out and pulling the sun into the sky with her bare hand. 

“and pull the sun across the sky,” Allison said the last words of the spell. The magic rippled out from her and out towards the universe. She watched as the rays of sunlight pierced over the tops of the hills at lightning speed. 

The waves of light struck Mary and Sarah first. Allison watched the sunlight pierce them and start to pour out from under their skin, forming cracks of golden light that seemed to be breaking them down from the inside. And in a moment, their bodies were reduced into a pile of dust.

Allison turned and saw the golden light pouring out of Winifred as well. Winifred had Max in her grip, her long and pointed fingernails were piercing Max’s sweater, but from the look on her face, Winifred knew it was too late for her. Dani, who had managed to get Binx free and was clutching him in her arms, was looking on with glee as the light continued to pour out of the witch. Winifred locked her eyes on Allison for one final glare before she too was reduced to dust.

All of them looked at the pile of dust that was formerly known as Winifred Sanderson. To think that someone so evil and powerful could be reduced to something so small, really put things into perspective. The silence grew as sunlight continued to shine into the cottage.

“Ding-dong, the witch is dead,” Max said to break the tension.

Allison smiled weakly. The power that Allison had felt running through her veins moments ago was gone and had been replaced with exhaustion. She managed to stumble her way over towards Max, the spellbook still in her hands.

Max wrapped his arm around Allison and held her steady. “That was pretty fucking cool,” he whispered into Allison’s ear so that Dani wouldn’t hear him.

Allison smiled. “You’re telling me? You weren’t the one who did it, it felt…” Allison trailed off. She didn’t know how to describe the feeling of magic to Max. It had felt like she had been a being of pure light, and that she was bringing balance to the world, but that sounded too cheesy to say out loud so instead she whispered back, “Yeah, it was pretty fucking cool.”

Allison leaned her head on Max’s shoulder, and just let herself be held by him for a moment.

The moment didn’t last long. Dani let out an ear-splitting shriek, and the two rushed to her side where she was kneeling over Binx’s body.

“What’s wrong?” Max asked. 

“Binx,” Dani said, “he’s… he’s…”

“Dying,” Binx managed to wheeze out.

Allison examined Binx’s feline form on the floor. His once piercing yellow eyes now appeared to be glassed over. His breathing was erratic and sounded painful to Allison’s ears. 

“Binx I can save you, I’m sure there’s some sort of spell—” Allison said, starting to flip through the pages of her spellbook.

“No,” he said weakly, his glassed over eyes looked up at Allison, “I’m ready.” 

Allison nodded solemnly in response. She closed the book and laid it down.

“But you can’t die, Binx. Remember?” Dani said, petting Binx’s head. “Just like earlier, you’ve got to come back. You’ve got to stay with us. You’ve got to say with me,” she said as tears started to fall from her eyes. 

Binx looked up at Dani as if he were about to say something else when he closed his eyes and laid his head down.

Dani sobbed as she pulled Binx’s body close to her chest. She kept repeating the words, “But you can’t die,” over and over like a mantra.

Allison knelt down next to Dani and pulled her into a hug. “He’s gone, Dani. He’s finally free.”

“Bring him back,” Dani exclaimed at Allison. “I know you can do it, just bring him back to me.” 

For the briefest of moments, Allison selfishly considered it, but she knew that Binx didn’t want to be brought back.

“He told Allison not to, Dani,” Max said, kneeling down to wrap his arms around both of them, joining their hug on the cottage floor. “He wouldn’t want to be brought back.”

Dani nodded and leaned her head against Allison’s, shoulder. Dani’s tears seeped their way through Allison’s sweater as Dani continued to cry. 

A deep voice echoed throughout the cottage, “Dani,” it said. Allison could’ve sworn that it was Binx’s voice. She looked up from where they were on the floor and over by the cottage window and she saw a figure of a teenage boy standing there. He was dressed in an oversized linen white shirt and his brown hair was long and pulled back into a ponytail. Rays of sunlight were shining through him, making him appear translucent. It had to be Binx, human again in death.

“Please don’t be sad for me,” Binx’s spirit said walking towards them.

“Binx,” Dani said pulling away from Allison’s shoulder to look at the spirit, “is it really you?”

“Yeah,” Binx said giddily, waving his spectral arms out in admiration as if he had to prove to himself that he was also human again.

Dani carefully placed Binx’s feline body back on the floor of the cottage and then slowly made her way to the spirit. Max and Allison watched as Binx reached out to her and took her hand. 

“The witches are destroyed, their souls are finally banished from this world, thanks to Allison,” Binx said. He looked over Dani’s shoulder to address her directly, “You proved me wrong Allison,” he said, “magic doesn’t have to be evil, but I still urge you to be careful if you choose to go further down that path.” 

Allison nodded, “Don’t worry,” she said, “I’m only going to use it for good. I swear.”

“And maybe to help me on a calculus test or two,” Max said, gently elbowing Allison’s side. Allison huffed and rolled her eyes in response. 

“Could you do me a favor?” Binx asked Max.

“Anything,” Max replied.

“Would you please bury my body next to Emily?” Binx said.

“Of course,” Max said.

“And, Max, thank you for lighting that candle.”

Max nodded in response. 

“Thackery,” Allison heard the voice of a little girl call out, “Thackery Binx.”

Allison looked over to the doorway where the specter of a little girl in a linen nightgown stood. 

“It’s Emily,” Binx explained. 

Allison watched as Thackery leaned forward to Dani and whispered something in her ear before kissing her on the cheek. He then walked over to the door to join Emily. 

“Thackery Binx, what took thee so long?” Emily asked, reaching out to take his hand. 

Thackery grabbed it and said, “I’m sorry Emily, but I had to wait 300 years for a virgin to light a candle.”

Allison, Max, and Dani watched as the reunited pair walked towards the front door which opened up for them. They walked out of the cottage, and their forms dissipated in the direct sunlight.

Allison silently got up and went over behind the old checkout counter. She knelt down and pulled out one of the boxes they had kept for wrapping gifts. She walked back over to Binx’s body. Dani joined her and gently placed Binx’s body inside the box, a few more tears streamed down her face. 

Max hugged Dani. “I love you,” he said, pulling her close, “I hope you know that.”

“I love you too, jerkface,” Dani responded.

Allison walked a few paces away to let them have their sibling bonding moment. She put the lid on the box that held the remains of Thackery Binx. She really wanted to bring him back. He had deserved so much more in his 300 years of life, but she knew that she had to respect his wishes. 

She looked up and realized that Dani and Max had pulled away from their hug and Max was walking towards her.

“Dani,” Max said, grabbing the box from Allison, “would you do me a favor and take this and wait out in the car for us for a second?”

“Are you serious?” Dani asked. “You’re going to send me outside so you can kiss Allison?”

Allison smiled to herself and pretended not to have heard her.

Max’s eyes dashed quickly over to Allison and then back to Dani. “Uhm, no,” he said. “We just need to talk about… stuff.”

“Right,” Dani said, not buying it for a second. “What’s in it for me?”

“Okay, remember how I’d promised to be Peter Pan next Halloween?” Max asked.

“I could never forget that,” Dani said.

“I’ll do you one better than just the tights, I’ll wear the stupid pointed hat with the feather too,” Max said.

“And?” Dani asked. 

“And…” Max trailed off. 

“And I’ll be Tinkerbell,” Allison interjected. 

Max looked at her and mouthed ‘Thank you.’

“Promise?” Dani asked.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Allison said.

Dani beamed at Allison before turning to Max and saying, “Don’t take too long weirdos, I want to go home.” Dani grabbed the box from Max and held it close as she walked out to the car. 

“I told you, sometimes she can be a gremlin,” Max said, walking over to stand next to Allison. “Thanks, by the way. I was worried that she’d have me walking around in tap shoes next Halloween to be more authentic to the stage show.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” Allison said, “I did it to see you in tights.”

“A sight to behold I’m sure,” he deadpanned. 

“Oh, I’m very excited,” Allison grinned.

Max grinned back at her. Allison noticed that he was fidgeting his hands on his jeans like he didn’t know what to do with them.

“Thanks for, you know, saving Dani, and me,” Max said, a hint of bashfulness in his voice. “You looked pretty awesome, by the way, glowing with energy and all.”

“Wait, I was glowing?” Allison asked. 

“Yeah, there was this white light coming from like inside you, and your eyes were glowing,” Max said. “Did you really not realize that?

Allison shook her head. “No, I didn’t.”

“Well, you looked really powerful,” Max paused, unsure if he should say the next part, “you looked really beautiful.”

They grinned at each other and a comfortable silence fell between them. Each waiting for the other to make the first move. 

It was Allison who decided to move first. She reached out and gently carded her fingers through Max’s hair. It is as soft as it looks, she mused. Max looked at her, his blue eyes full of anticipation. She saw his eyes flit from her eyes to her mouth. She took that as an invitation to pull Max closer and closed the last few inches between them with her lips.

His lips surged forward to meet hers. His lips were soft against hers, she noted. They both brought a sense of urgency to the kiss. It was a push and pull of emotions that matched the intensity of their turbulent night. 

Allison felt Max grab her waist. In response, she tugged on the strands of his hair that was still between her fingers which caused Max to let out a soft moan. Allison grinned at the sound before darting her tongue into his mouth, deepening the kiss. Their tongues briefly moved together in an intricate dance of love and lust with Max following her lead. She retreated her tongue and sighed against his mouth.

It was a promise of more kisses to come.

Allison pulled away to catch her breath. Her lips tingled from kissing and her whole body flushed with warmth. Minutes ago, if anyone had asked her what the most addicting feeling in the world was, she would have said it was casting magic. But now she knew that the real answer was kissing Max Dennison.

Max beamed at her and she beamed back at him. His hand was still on her waist and her hand was still tangled up in his hair. Neither one was quick to pull completely away, and they continued to hold onto each other as they caught their breaths.

“Let’s go home,” Allison said, taking Max’s hand into hers. He nodded to her and the two walked out of the cottage, stopping at the front step. The sunlight beamed down upon them and Allison felt a sense of accomplishment. In one night, she had learned to cast a spell, she had saved her friends from three 300-year-old witches, and in the end, she had gotten to kiss the most interesting boy she had ever met. Not to mention the accomplishment she felt knowing that she was the one who had made the sun come up today, and nobody could take that away from her.

“Uh, Allison,” Max said, looking up at the sky.

“Yeah?”

“It doesn’t look like dawn; it almost looks like noon.” 

Allison looked up to see that Max was right. The sun was nearly directly overhead. 

“I might have overshot that spell a little bit,” Allison said.

“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Max said, “you did pretty good for your first time ever using magic.”

“Now all I need to work on is control,” Allison said.

“So, am I officially dating a witch now?” Max teased.

“Well, you’re not _officially_ dating anyone yet,” Allison said. “We still haven’t gone on a real date.”

Max grinned at her. “Tomorrow,” he said, “how does a candlelit dinner sound? I’ll pick you up at eight.” 

“It sounds perfect,” Allison said, “but I’m driving.”

“Fair enough,” Max said, starting to lead Allison back towards the car, but she pulled back.

“You go ahead,” Allison said, “I just need a moment.”

Max nodded and left her alone on the front porch. 

She’d be back. She knew for a fact that the cottage was still stocked with the Sanderson’s magical ingredients, pretty much untouched for the last 300 years. And the remote location would keep her away from prying eyes. Her spellbook was still resting on the floor where she had left it. Waiting for her to open it again. Her hands twitched in anticipation at the thought of controlling that energy once more.

“Tomorrow,” she promised to the empty cottage. There would be plenty of time for magic tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that. But for now, Allison was content to go home and take and get some rest. She closed the door to the cottage.

She knew that her future was going to be magical indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Happy Halloween!
> 
> You can follow me on Ko-fi for updates on my writing, my username is adrianahenrichs  
> Additionally, you can check out my Tumblr which is disneyandthefamilybusiness
> 
> PS: In case you were wondering, I just ignored Ernie and Jay, I couldn't really find a good place to fit them in this piece.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been watching Hocus Pocus a lot and this is a theory that I came up with after multiple viewings. I just had to write it. I hope you enjoyed it! If you want to keep up with my writing you can check me out on ko-fi. My username is wyoana. Or you can follow me on Tumblr, my username there is also disneyandthefamilybusiness


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